Kuju Wireless Publishing acquired by Finesse Publishing Group
Finesse Mobile established, Kuju to retain mobile game development
Kuju Wireless Publishing, the specialist mobile game publishing division of Kuju Entertainment, has been acquired by the Finesse Publishing Group and will shortly be re-branded as Finesse Mobile.
The publishing arm was established in 2004 in a bid to clearly distinguish between Kuju's mobile game publishing activities and its PC/console development group. The wireless publishing group has successfully brought numerous mobile titles to market, including Cannon Fodder, Judge Dredd and several titles based on the Lotus Challenge franchise.
Under the terms of the agreement, former managing director of KWP, Kevin Holloway, will join Finesse as its new CEO. "Finesse is delighted to build upon the strong foundations laid by Kuju Wireless Publishing and looks forward to growing the company in the rapidly evolving mobile content industry," Holloway commented.
Significantly, Kuju will continue to develop mobile games, wholly retaining its mobile phone game development group, which has operated as one of Kuju Entertainment's autonomous studios since 2000.
Jonathan Newth, Kuju's managing director, stated: "Kuju Entertainment remains committed to mobile phone game development through the retention of our mobile development studio. With over 60 games developed on a range of technologies (including 2D and 3D J2ME, Symbian, SMS and Interactive TV) we have one of the strongest independent mobile development studios in the UK. As mobile platforms continue to grow in complexity and capability, our ability to leverage the technical knowledge of our sister PC and console divisions will be a key competitive advantage."
"Kuju intends to focus on its core skills in development, particularly as we enter the era of the next generation of consoles. We believe that the agreement with Finesse provides the clear focus and optimum return to Kuju for the IP and business that has been created so far," Newth concluded.
The company has worked with several external developers and its games are currently being sold in more than 75 countries worldwide. Finesse Mobile hopes to continue this success with the acquisition, utilising the experience and talent of KWP and leveraging its own resources and distribution network for future releases.